kappa-to-asobou
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VC Tuesday: Kunio and Koinu
Okay, so there are more WiiWare games in Japan this week than Virtual Console games, but the WiiWare games are boring. How boring? The most interesting games on the list are both puzzle games, and one of those is only noteworthy because it's super cute awwwww puppies.But the Virtual Console games are better. Sure, one of them is a shooter, an imperfect port of an arcade game, but the other is a Kunio game and a one-time NES pack-in! Virtual Console releases: Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen (Famicom, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points) Super Darius (PC Engine, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) WiiWare releases: Minna de Asobou: Koinu de Kururin (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points) Saikyou Ginsei Mahjong (1 player, 500 Wii Points) Kappa-kun to Asobou: Kappa-kun no O-tanoshimikai (1 player, 600 Wii Points) Katachi no Game Maruboushi Kaku (1-3 players, 800 Wii Points)
VC Tuesday: Storage space invaders
This week, Japanese gamers can spend 800 Wii Points to make their Wii pretend to be a Super Famicom pretending to be a circa-1978, 8080-based arcade board. How meta! Despite the outrageous antiquity of Space Invaders, it remains fun to play, and that infernal soundtrack climbs into the brain like those disgusting worm things from Star Trek II, but in kind of a good way. In any case, The Original Game is more of a remake than a port, with a new 2-player mode accompanying a faithful recreation.Also on the VC: Falcom's side-scrolling ARPG Sorcerian and Taito's adorable Bobble-like platformer Liquid Kids. Space Invaders: The Original Game (Super Famicom, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points) Sorcerian (Mega Drive, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) Mizubaku Adventure (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) On WiiWare, an educational storybook game for kids about a kind of Japanese mythological creature. That eats children. Kappa-kun to Asobou: Kappa-kun to Mori no Nakamatachi (1 player, 600 Wii Points)
WiiWare edutainment hits Japan this month
Cable Entertainment announced a new WiiWare game for Japan, and it's already scheduled to come out in September! Kappa-kun to Asobou: Kappa-kun to Mori no Nakamatachi (Play with Kappa: Kappa and his Forest Friends) is an animated picture book with voice narration. The game, which tells the story of a young kappa who wants to become human, also includes simple quizzes about the material.As totally hardcore gamers, we in the gaming community tend to look disapprovingly at young kids' edutainment, but we think that children's "non-games" on WiiWare actually seems like a great idea. It's cheap (600 points), can be purchased from home, and might encourage a few parents to share a story with their kids.
